Sumanta K. Pal, MD, FASCO, on Tolerability of Lenvatinib and Everolimus to Treat Patients With RCC

Sumanta K. Pal, MD, FASCO, spoke with CancerNetwork® to detail a phase 2 trial (NCT03173560) of lenvatinib (Lenvima) at 2 starting doses and everolimus to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma, discussing challenges with tolerability of the drugs from a presentation at the 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Transcription:

This particular combination with lenvatinib and everolimus doesn’t include an [immunotherapy] component, it’s just pure targeted therapy. And I would suggest that, in terms of tolerability, it has its challenges. I was hoping that perhaps we could get away with using a lower dose and thereby mitigate some toxicity, but it doesn’t appear that that’s the case. It certainly does suggest to me that perhaps there are challenges as we try to implement the higher dose of lenvatinib with pembrolizumab. [In the CLEAR study (NCT02811861)], they use a dose of 20 mg of lenvatinib, but I can't imagine that that's going to be any easier for patients.

Reference:

Pal SK, Puente J, Heng DYK, et al. Phase II trial of lenvatinib (LEN) at two starting doses + everolimus (EVE) in patients (pts) with renal cell carcinoma (RCC): Results by independent imaging review (IIR) and prior immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). Presented at: 2021 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium. Abstract 307.